Sky's the limit for symbol of HK prosperity
A landmark in Hong Kong's skyline, the architecturally brilliant Bank of China Tower's fung shui still sparks animated discussion among urban-myth mongers. But the 316-metre structure, completed in 1989, was never intended to rain down bad luck on its neighbours, be it Government House, BoC's main local competitor, Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, or otherwise.
When renowned architect I. M. Pei was commissioned to design the tower in 1983, his intention was to build a modern structure that would represent the aspirations of the Chinese people. Any controversy that resulted was only because the American Chinese underestimated fung shui's cultural importance.
'I was made aware of this [fung shui], but did not take it seriously,' he says. 'As soon as we made our design public, I was immediately attacked. For instance, the building had too many sharp corners.'
As well, Pei wanted to emphasise the exterior cross braces, not realising that the cross is a symbol of bad luck and death in Chinese culture. Instead, the X-shapes were transformed into the facade's auspicious diamond forms seen today.
In his bid to make the building structurally expressive, Pei - whose father was BoC's first Hong Kong manager during the Nationalist period - drew his inspiration from nature, likening the tower to a sectioned trunk of bamboo that is propelled ever higher with each new growth.
Bamboo is a symbol of revitalisation and hope and the building is a metaphor for the process of Chinese modernisation and, more specifically, future growth for BoC.
The glass and aluminium skyscraper is made of four triangular metal and glass shafts growing out of a two-storey granite base. The varying heights of the shafts produce a multifaceted facade that give the building a markedly different appearance, depending on one's vantage point.
The modernism is tempered with traditional effects, such as Chinese-style gardens, fountains and pools at the base, and a Chinese-style vault rising to the second floor from the entrance hall. Harmony with nature is achieved inside with a 15-storey atrium placed on the third floor to illuminate the banking hall.
Its unique aesthetic poise apart, the building is a model of engineering innovation. The triangular bracing design cut by half the amount of steel typically required in a building of a similar height.
Yet it is built tough, and can withstand typhoons with calculated wind loads twice those in the 'windy city' of Chicago, in the United States. It is also designed to withstand earthquakes, being built at four times the seismic force requirements used in Los Angeles.
Constructed at a cost of US$130 million, the 72-storey building, with its pair of 52-metre rooftop poles or 'chopsticks', replaced Hopewell Centre as the tallest building in Hong Kong - only to be topped by Central Plaza three years later in 1992.
It is the 20th tallest building in the world.
